US-built floating pier that will allow delivery of humanitarian aid has been anchored in Gaza

The US military finished setting up a floating pier for the Gaza Strip to start bringing in much-needed humanitarian aid on Thursday (May 16). This comes after over seven months of intense fighting in the Israel-Hamas war.

US Central Command (CENTCOM) reports that the floating pier that would enable humanitarian aid to enter Gaza from the sea has been anchored to a beach in Gaza.

Around 7:40 a.m. local time, personnel moored the pier in order to “support the humanitarian mission to deliver additional humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians,” according to a statement from CENTCOM. On Wednesday, the pier made its way to the Gaza coastline from the port of Ashdod, which is roughly thirty kilometers distant.

In the upcoming days, trucks are anticipated to start delivering the humanitarian aid ashore. The UN will oversee its distribution throughout the besieged area, according to CENTCOM, which also noted that no US forces had entered Gaza.

The causeway that transports the supplies to the distribution site in Gaza and the floating dock where they will be offloaded make up the Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore (JLOTS) system.

The United Kingdom declared on Wednesday that 8,400 prefabricated shelters and its first cargo of humanitarian goods are en route from Cyprus to Gaza. The humanitarian aid that will be transported to Gaza via the pier and sea corridor will first be staged in Cyprus.

“The aid will be distributed within Gaza as soon as feasible,” the UK said in its announcement.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon has said that US humanitarian cargo is already loaded into a ship at the Ashdod port and will be released when the pier is prepared.

The UK stated that the temporary pier would initially allow 90 truckloads of aid to enter Gaza every day through the pier; when the pier is fully operational, that number could rise to 150 truckloads. The temporary pier is meant to supplement the aid entering Gaza through the land crossings.

Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, the deputy commander of US Central Command, emphasized during a news briefing on Wednesday that there would be “no US military boots on the ground in Gaza” and that the pier was not meant to replace land ways into Gaza.

He also outlined the steps that would be taken. First, the aid is prepared and screened upon arrival in Cyprus. The aid is then transported by big commercial ships to a “floating platform” close to the coast of Gaza, where it is then transferred to smaller boats that may dock at the makeshift pier. The UN and World Food Program will deliver the aid into Gaza after it lands.

There are currently “hundreds of tons of aid ready for delivery and thousands of tons of aid in the pipeline,” from multiple nations, Cooper said.

Last week, TFD reported that the US still faced a number of obstacles before JLOTS could begin operations. The US was closely watching whether what it called a “limited” Israeli incursion into Rafah in southern Gaza would affect the temporary pier. In addition, the US had not yet finalized plans about who would transport the humanitarian aid shipments from the causeway to the distribution point in Gaza.

The Pentagon announced on Monday that it has hired drivers for the pier, though it did not reveal who they were.

During a press briefing, deputy Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh stated, “I can just tell you it’s a third-party contractor, but that’s it.” The UN World Food Program will deliver the humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people once it reaches Gaza.

Ryder stated on Tuesday that security was set up to enable JLOTS activities to start as soon as the pier was prepared.

“We’re sure we’ll have the necessary security in place,” Ryder declared.

The Gaza catastrophe worsens, and the area is devoid of hope.

Aid organizations said that fuel is running low and food is nearly gone in the southern part of Gaza. Hospitals will have to halt vital surgeries due to this scarcity, and relief vehicles won’t be able to provide supplies. For weeks, the UN and other organizations have issued warnings that an Israeli attack on Rafah, which is close to the main lines of entry for aid on the Egyptian border, would seriously impair humanitarian efforts and result in a high number of civilian casualties.